Intro
Wrapping up senior year means finishing off Freestyle with a big bang. This big bang takes the form of a project called Zenith. The definition of “Zenith” is “the time at which something is most powerful or successful”. As our last project at Freestyle we are able to choose whatever we want to do using whatever program and techniques we want to showcase to the rest of Freestyle. It is the time when we are given free rein to use the skills we have been taught for the past two years to create something new and something that we are passionate about.
What is my Zenith project?
For my Zenith project I chose to present the 2D and 3D character development process I’ve worked on all year in animation class. Character development is what I have been passionate about exploring as a career since I was seven-years-old. I find a lot of satisfaction in drawing people or humanoid characters and creating stories and backgrounds to go along with them. Spending time developing small almost obsessive details is a very therapeutic activity for me. As for my Zenith I began using the Procreate app on my iPad to sketch out a few concept pages before creating a 3D model in ZBrush. I took this 3D model and added color and texture using Substance Painter, later rigging her and finally animating her using MoCap data. This project overall pushed me to my limits since I had learned three new programs and over a dozen new skills while learning how to create my 2D images into 3D.
